Florida’s new development law raises questions

The Community Renewal Act will become the state’s new land planning law on July 1, but no one seems to know how exactly it will work.

That means its impact on future developments in South Florida is still evolving. The law is meant to make developing projects easier, serving as an economic stimulus, but problems in the residential and commercial markets mean few projects are likely to be built anytime soon.

Details about the legislation, signed by Gov. Charlie Crist earlier this month, are still being worked out. But it clearly ends the 37-year-old regional planning process for major projects known as development of regional impact (DRI). It removes standing requirements that developers pay to upgrade roads, and also extends the shelf life of a building permit for two years.

Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties are among eight counties statewide that meet the newly established threshold as dense urban land areas. These areas are exempt from funneling major developments through the DRI and transportation concurrency steps of planning. The counties that include Tampa, Jacksonville and Orlando are also exempt.

Michael Busha, executive director of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, which covers Palm Beach, Martin, St, Lucie and Indian River counties, said the loss of DRIs is significant because the Community Renewal Act eradicates existing laws without a clear-cut plan for dealing with issues that arise from developing.

“I think the more you get into this, the more questions there will be,” he said.

DRIs allowed local governments to address and mitigate the impact of projects on neighbors, with the planning councils giving guidance. Now, the planning councils will serve as mediators between governments, such as a county and a city that disagree.

“If there is no DRI process, then there is no process within the growth management law to complain,” Busha said.

Carolyn A. Dekle, executive director of the South Florida Regional Planning Council, which includes Broward and Miami-Dade counties, said her staff is reviewing the law with public and private partners to figure out its impact.

“At this point, there are more questions than answers, but we are confident that we will all have a better understanding of the practical implications of the legislation in the near future,” she said.

The new law also eliminates transportation concurrency regulations, which sometimes call for developers to fund road improvements, and calls for a study to create a mobility fee system. What this system will be is unclear, but it is likely to take into account mass transit to accommodate building in urban cores.

What happens in the meantime is unclear even to veteran land planners like Ken Tuma, managing principal of West Palm Beach-based Urban Design Kilday Studios.

The firm is steering the transformation of 682 acres in Palm Beach Gardens into a biotechnology research-based mixed-use development known as Scripps Florida Phase II/Briger DRI.

The developers could opt out of their DRI now, but don’t plan to because the new renewal act is unclear, he said.

By many accounts, Florida’s growth management laws were redundant, with many of the same functions of the DRI process handled through the state’s comprehensive planning act.

DRIs are just a small portion of the advisory work done by regional planning councils, which also have government contracts to do studies and other planning projects.

Cutting costs

The Florida Department of Community Affairs is being flooded with calls from local governments concerned about what to do, spokesman James Miller said. The agency is charged with interpreting and finding ways to execute the new planning mandate.

Callers want to know where regional reviews of large projects will take place, if at all. They also want to know what happens during the gap from July 1 to whenever a mobility fee system is implemented.

“Come July 1, they are going to wake up and is going to be a whole new world,” Miller said. “There are a lot of local governments concerned about what the ramifications are.”

Former DCA Secretary Jim Murley, who is now assistant dean at Florida Atlantic University’s College for Architecture, Urban & Public Affairs, said state lawmakers will likely draft bills to fix the problems in the new law.

But, for many South Florida builders, the most valuable part of the legislation may be the hope that their building permits outlast the recession.

“One of the most important things to us was the two-year blanket building permit extensions,” said Truly Burton, an official of the Builders Association of South Florida. “Building permits are the only things of value to people right now.”

THE DETAILS:

New boom on the horizon

South Florida is expected to get waves of new residents.

The region can expect to gain 1.21 million residents in the 20 years ending in 2025, according to projections by Bizjournals.com based on U.S. Census figures.

That would bring the region’s population to 6.59 million from 5.37 million in 2005.

South Florida would rank 94th in percentage growth among 250 metropolitan areas.

The region would actually drop from being the nation’s sixth-largest urban area to eighth. Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia would fall behind South Florida, but Houston, Atlanta and Phoenix would move past.

Two of the hotter spots in the nation, though, are not far away.

The Cape Coral-Fort Myers area is expected to nearly double in population, with growth of 95.28 percent, ranking third in the nation and hitting 1 million in population. Port St. Lucie is expected to grow by 84.49 percent, ranking sixth in the nation and hitting 693,073 in population.